31 Days: New Headboard!

Today’s 31 Day of New Uses for Old Things post I actually completed over the summer. I thought this is a great example of new uses for old things though!! (If you want to see a list of my previous 31 Days, I have links posted on my sidebar!)

When we purchased our Queen size bed last year we had no headboard. I’ve been wanting something for awhile and didn’t know what to do, until….

Headboard before picture

I found wood cabinets doors at habitat ReStore! They would be perfect as a headboard – I just needed to figure out how to hang them/piece them together and how to make them prettier. Here’s what they looked like starting out:

You can’t tell in this picture, but they were worn and a little scuffed up.

This summer I didn’t have much extra money on hand, I wanted to use whatever resources I had on hand. We had leftover stain from staining our wine shelf in the kitchen. I spent time Googling staining over stained wood and finish. Everything mentioned having to completely sanding off the finish (or soaking it in paint thinner to take off the finish), so that the new stain would soak into the wood; then re-staining; and finally adding finish again. Since I was just making a headboard (that did not need to last forever), I didn’t have to worry about adding finish in the end.

I found a great resources for antiquing cabinets on eHow Home. And I specifically looked at this article (had a quick and easy guide to the different techniques one can use for antiquing furniture). When all was said and done, I found this DIY post to be the most helpful for what I wanted (and what resources I had already on hand). I decided all I really needed to do was a light sanding, then re-stain the wood.

So I sanded.

Stained

Let them dry for 24 hours. The, started drilling to add d-rings.

Put in D-rings

Then strung wire through the rings (to hang them like a picture)

(this was the cabinet door we tested the stain on the back)

Then – Ta-DA!!

Finished product – so pretty!!

To read the post about the beginnings of my DIY headboard project, click here. Please visit, comment, add a link or like my facebook page!! Thanks!